Automatic call distribution centers, also called ACDs or “call centers,” route telephone calls from customers :who place the calls, to agents who respond to the calls. A typical application for a call center is in a customer support department where customers seek information to assist them in using a product.
Modem call centers provide many features to make the handling of calls and exchange of information more efficient. Not only do call centers strive to assist the customers in stating and categorizing their questions, and the agents in responding to the questions, but the call centers also provide supervisors who manage the agents with information so that the supervisors can make decisions on how to best operate the call center. Also, call centers provide information to assist product manufacturers, or service providers, in improving the quality of their customer service department, particular product or service, etc.
For example, a common feature of call centers today is to allow a customer/caller to select from a menu of choices to help categorize their needs. Often, this pre-selection by the customer allows the call center to screen and categorize customers so that customers can be matched up with the proper resources to handle the calls. Call centers also have mechanisms for “queuing” the calls according to the screening information, availability of agents, etc. Call centers can also maintain a database of previous calls from the same caller, or customer. This database can be available to an agent so that an agent will be familiar with the history of the callers' problems, needs, etc. Call centers also log data on calls and call handling. For example, the time each agent spends per call may be a statistic that is of interest to a supervisor in order to judge agents' performances. Also, analysis of the types of calls being received as where, for example, recurring problems appear, can be used to identify problems in a product or service.
The products and services available in today's information age have become more complex and implicate complex technology. The knowledge necessary to use, configure and upgrade products has grown, inevitably translating into a need for more customer support. Unfortunately, today's call centers do not always provide optimum exchange of information. The almost exclusive use of the telephone as the sole communication channel between a customer and agent does not always provide flexible and efficient exchange of information. The shortcomings of today's call centers are especially deficient in light of the increasing volume of calls that call centers must handle. It is not uncommon for call centers to have hundreds of agents handling thousands of calls each day. A call center's operating overhead can be in the millions of dollars per year. The impact of a good customer support center, however, can be reflected in revenues in the hundreds of millions, thus making an efficient and effective call center vital to a company's successful operation. However, today's call centers have failed to adapt to provide an efficient exchange of information between the call center and the customers in light of to day's products and technology.
For example, it is common for computer users to download software applications, software updates, drivers, data, etc. from the Internet. In order to support these software products companies provide online documentation in the form of notes, instructions, lists of “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQs) and other documentation. However, the Internet's presentation of information is often inadequate to ail but the most sophisticated computer and Internet users. Even when looking at a single manufacturer's website, a customer may spend a long time only to determine that the answer to their question does not exist within the wealth of information provided at the website. Customers are left to their own devices to figure out how to search among web-based information and often can not make effective automated searches because they don't know how to characterize their problems in a few keywords.
As an alternative to online documents, some manufacturers allow more customized assistance by providing, for example, an e-mail form or address to which the customer may send a question. However, in some cases, the customer may desire immediate response to which an e-mail response is not sufficient. Also, it is often awkward to state a problem without interactive communication. This is especially true with computer-related products where a discussion of a problem is often a mix of acronyms, abbreviations, syntax symbols and other peculiar uses of the written word beyond mere conversational text. Also, questions about using a user interface are difficult to state with text alone since locations, controls, objects, button presses, etc. need to be discussed.
Another form in Internet communication that is sometimes used in the customer support arena is “real-time chat,” or, simply, “chat.” The chat form of communication allows typed text to appear immediately on another person's screen so that two or more people may have a typed “conversation” by using their computers over a network such as the Internet. In customer support, moderated chat is another communication type that can be used to give information to customers but it represents the same type of personnel drain to the customer service provider that voice communication presents and, thus, is not a popular form of customer service support unless some screening or prioritizing can be performed. Typically, this means a customer must submit a request for a chat with an agent. In these systems, the customer is at the disadvantage of not knowing when an agent will appear and may thus have to wait online whether they desire to be in front of their computer or not.
Of course, the customer can revert to the traditional communication method of picking up the telephone and dialing a customer support center. However, this reduces the customer to voice descriptions of their problem which, in the computer and software world, may not translate well. For example, anyone who has tried to relay a long uniform resource locator (URL) by calling out the slashes and sub-domain names of text that is a collection of garbled non-words at best, and then having to verify the name when it is repeated back by the person at the other end, can understand the value of being able to use text or other images in a conversation to describe a problem. Also, many of to day's customers use their single telephone line to connect to the Internet. This means it is not possible for a customer to simultaneously converse about a problem with an Internet-related product and test out a suggested solution in real time.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a call center system that enhances the ability of a call center to exchange information with a customer. Such a call center should provide benefits in efficiency and effectiveness to both customers, agents, supervisors, and the manufacturer of a product, or provider of a service, to which the call center services are directed.